When Steve Jobs introduced Apple's mobile advertising network, iAd, to
the world, he effectively said it would be a game-changer for mobile advertising. Although some of
us were skeptical, who would bet against him?

A year later, it appears that the skepticism was well-placed. iAd is, according to a new report by Bloomberg, floundering.

The iPad provides a much richer experience and real-estate than the standard mobile phone or even the iPhone. New iPad advertising formats, dubbed iPadvertising, might start to bear fruit not only for mobile advertising, but the advertising industry in general.

Will mobile advertising finally grow up and be taken seriously with the emergence of the tablet?

Apple's new iAd mobile advertising platform offers the enticing proposition of advertising seamlessly integrated into Apple's myriad mobile applications. But according to one developer, the acquisition cost on the platform is around $15.

If other users have similar problems, this could spell trouble for Apple.

There's some good news for third party networks that want to sell ads on Apple's mobile devices. The Jesus Phone maker isn't currently enforcing its overly strict rules designed to keep competitors from selling targeted ads on its mobile devices.

According to Omar Hamoui, founder and CEO of Google's AdMob, Apple hasn't been cracking down on its overly aggressive ad rules.

Tracking the state of the mobile ad market is tough when you're owned by Google. That's what AdMob decided today. The mobile ad network published its final Mobile Metrics Report today.

Google's Android phone may be making inroads with consumers, but if Apple is going to prevent AdMob from selling targeted ads on its devices, it hardly seems necessary for the company to continue documenting Apple's impressive sales figures. That said, it's still interesting to see where the two companies are shaping up in the mobile market.

Apple's rise to the top of the tech world has been marked just as much
by controversy as it has by success in the mobile market. The company's
desire for control has made it a target for critics, and potentially
for regulators.

Apple attracted the spotlight when it implemented new rules that essentially killed Adobe's iPhone/iPad ambitions by making it clear that apps developed using Adobe's Packager for iPhone tool contained in the newest version Flash Professional would not make it into the App Store. And its dislike for Flash was made abundantly clear when the iPad was unveiled, sans Flash support.